Revised threshold limits for appeals by I-T department to apply in all pending cases

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) in an internal notice sent to high ranking I-T officials has clarified that the revised monetary limits of filing of appeals by the tax authorities before the tax tribunals and courts, will also apply to all pending cases.

TOI in its edition of August 9, had analysed CBDT’s notification which raised the threshold limits for filing of appeals by the I-T authorities with the Income-Tax Appellate Tribunal to Rs 50 lakh (earlier limit being Rs 20 lakh). It has also doubled the threshold limit for filing of appeals, by the I-T authorities with the high court and Supreme Court to Rs 1 crore and Rs 2 crore respectively. TOI had also correctly pointed out that the revised thresholds would apply to all pending cases.

The internal notice, dated August 20, instructs the I-T authorities to withdraw all pending appeals within the revised limit by October 31. To better monitor the situation, a fortnightly report has to be submitted by the I-T authorities to the CBDT.

The Ahmedabad ITAT was the first to take cognisance of CBDT’s circular. Last week, it dismissed more than 600 pending appeals in a single day, as the tax effect of the disputed amounts in these cases was less than Rs 50 lakh. The I-T department’s contention that the revised threshold would not apply to pending cases, was dismissed by the bench. “The clarity now offered by the CBDT, will remove doubts, if any, and ease the backlog in the tax tribunals and courts,” says a government official. #casansaar (Source - TNN, Times of India)